Connectedness

Week of:  October 15-19, 2012

Theme:  Connectedness – “Each Depends on the Other”

 

“In spite of the differences among people in the world, we are all much more connected than we seem to be.  The entire population of the planet feeds from the same earth, breathes the same air, uses the same limited supply of resources.  Today it is ore apparent than ever that as humans, we depend upon each other for our well-being” (The Advisory Book, p. 190).

 

 

     Date                    News                             Greeting             Sharing               Activity

 

Mon 10/15     EF	Happy Monday! This week is all about CONNECTION.  Every part of your life is connected to every other part of your life.  When one part is organized, it makes all the other parts run better, too!	“Greet Three” Greeting   (see Greetings Section below)	none	Plan out the week ahead in your planner
Tuesday a.m. 10/16   Discussion	Dear Earthlings, Experts tell us that we are all dependent upon each other in small and big ways. Think about someone you depend on, and think about someone who depends on YOU. Be ready to share.	Cumulative Greeting   (see below)	Whip Share*   “Who is someone you depend on? Why?”	none
Tuesday p.m.	We depend upon each other to have FUN!  How are you connected to each other when you play sports?	none	none	Volleyball Tournament
Wed 10/17   Activity	Good Morning, Fellow Humans!  Scientists tell us that everyone & everything is connected, even if we don’t realize it.  How do professional sports affect you, even if you don’t watch any?	Silent Greeting   (see below)	none	Human Knot
Thursday 10/18   Journal	Good Morning!   You just never know how you might be connected to others! Please write your name on a piece of paper, crumple it up and toss it into the circle.	Snowball Greeting   (see below)	If time permits, after journaling	Journal Topic:   (see below)
Friday 10/19     6th & 8th graders	Good Morning to All! We’ll play a magical game today called ESP, Extra-sensory perception. Somehow or other, people find ways to communicate with each other, even when we are not talking.  This will be a fun way to see how good we are at coming to agreement without a specific plan to do so.	Greet Three   (see below)	none	ESP     (see below)

General Discussion:

 

Friday – 7^th grade gender discussion

 

Heritage Luncheon

 

One-on-One’s

 

 

Greetings:

 

Greet Three (Monday & Friday) – Students make eye contact from across the circle, move and greet each other using a greeting of their choice, and repeat this process two more times.  All students are greeting simultaneously.  Model and practice how to do this gracefully (and WITH SELF-CONTROL) among several students.  Variation:  on Monday, students can greet anyone; on Friday, one must be opposite gender.

 

Cumulative Greeting (Tuesday) – Each person greets everyone who has preceded him in the greeting.  The first student greets the student next to her; that student greets her back, and greets whoever is next to her in the circle.  This student greets her back, and also greets the first person.  This cumulative process continues until the last greeter must respond to being greeted by greeting everyone in the group.

 

Silent Greeting (Wednesday) – Students brainstorm silent greetings.  Model & practice some of them, such as nodding heads, smiling, raising eyebrows, winking, etc…

 

One at a time around the circle, students greet each other silently using one of the modeled silent greetings, or look across the circle and connect with at least three of their classmates.  When everyone has been greeted, you might discuss what it felt like to be greeted silently, and the power of non-verbal communication. 

 

Also, you might brainstorm times when your class would want to use a silent greeting, such as: “We are in the middle of a lesson and a student returns from an activity outside the classroom;” or “We see a friend at lunch talking with someone else and we don’t want to interrupt.”

 

Snowball Greeting (Thursday) – Students write their names on paper, then crumple the paper into a ball and toss it on the floor.  Each student picks up a paper ball, opens it up, reads the name on it, and greets the student indicated.  Can be done simultaneously or one at a time. 

 

Snake Greeting (Friday) – A student stands up, greets a neighbor, gets greeted in return, moves on to greet the next person, and so on.  As the leader moves on, the student she greeted stands and follows her, greeting the same people she greeted, in the same order.  A constantly growing “snake” of students forms behind her.  Once the leader has greeted everyone, she sits – she’s the first to return to her seat –and others follow in order, shrinking in size of the snake, until everyone has sat down.

 

Shares:

 

Tuesday Whip Share:  “Who is someone you depend on and why?”

 

Whip Share concept:  A topic is introduced by the leader.  Students are given a minute to think.  Each student offers a brief response to the topic; responses quickly “whip” around the circle.  “Who is someone you depend on and why?”

 

Students answer a few words or a sentence, answering in order around the circle (the order and brevity increases safety and diminishes risk of over-exposure).  Introverts might speak softly at first; extroverts might be silly, or posture. 

 

Teacher is watching for respectful listening and speaking, and for full participation.

 

Introduced for the first time, Whip Share needs to be modeled and practiced (like any activity). The teacher demonstrates by giving her answer to the question: “Who is someone you depend on and why?”  A discussion of some finer points follows.

 

Teacher:  “I depend on my best friend because she cares about me but is also honest when giving me advice.”

 

Teacher: “What did you notice about my answer?”

 

Student:  “It was short.  You said a complete sentence.”

 

Teacher:  “Yes, I did answer in a full sentence, but in this first round that’s not a requirement.  What else did you notice?”

 

Student:  “You looked at us when you talked.”

 

At first there may be uncomfortable posturing, and students may say something is their favorite even when it isn’t because they know it’s typical.  It takes a certain amount of safety to admit that you really like something different than our peers.  A marker of a true community is when students begin speaking honestly, and are not afraid to reveal that they are a little different.

 

Activities:

 

EF Mondays – We continue to focus on executive functioning skills on Mondays.  This week, students simply fill out the week in terms of quizzes, games, projects due, etc….  Advisors guide and supervise.

 

Human Knot (Wednesday) – Students stand in a circle and link right hands with someone across from them.  They repeat this process with left hands, selecting someone other than the student with whom they joined right hands and the knot is complete. 

 

Run a “circuit” through the knot by asking one student to squeeze his or her left hand; when that second person feels one hand squeezed, then he or she should squeeze his or her right hand, and so on, until the circuit returns to the original “squeezer.”  If the circuit makes it all the way back to the original squeezer, then the knot is “free-flowing” and can be untangled.  If not, then students should release hands and re-knot themselves holding different hands and try again.

 

Once the circuit has been established, students try to un-knot themselves without letting go, but also without twisting anyone’s elbows or wrists. 

 

If this exercise is too much physical contact for your group, then have the students hold a strip of cloth between them.

 

 

 

Journal Topic (Thursday) –

 

You have made friends with a new kid on your street and they invite you over for dinner.  When you walk in the door they ask you to leave your shoes outside the door and come and pick up a musical instrument. It is time to come together and sing some songs to celebrate life and the feast his grandma has prepared. They are serving some things you have never tried and are unsure you are going to be able to stomach trying....

 

What do you do?   How do you feel?   What kinds of ways can you tell the  host you are uncomfortable without being rude?

 

 

ESP (Extra-sensory Perception) – This is a game with a connection to consensus-building.  Students form at least 3 or 4 groups.  Each group huddles up and chooses a dramatic movement and sound they’ll act out together.  Each group demonstrates its movement and sounds, after which the leader shouts, “One, two, three, ESP!”  and all groups perform their action and sound at the same time.  Leader instructs groups to continue their performance for approximately ten seconds, and look around at what other groups are doing.  After ten seconds, leader tells groups to huddle up and decide whether to keep doing what they did last time or switch to another group’s idea for round two.  The goal is to come to consensus – to end up with all grops doing the same action and sounds.  It may take several grounds as groups learn to compromise.  Leader should discuss how empathy and “giving to get” are important parts of coming to consensus.  The game may be played with large groups.